The Jockey Club, the leading sanctioning body in what’s left of the sport of horse racing in the U.S., sent out a clear message Wednesday to anybody thinking of naming their horse after Hitler: Don’t name your horse after Hitler.
The two-year-old colt Austrian Painter made his racing debut Monday with a win in the third race at Horseshoe Indianapolis Racecourse. Obligatory: He covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.97, and paid $9.00. Afterward, the Jockey Club received objections about the victorious newcomer, but these weren’t the standard post-race protests about a jockey’s obstructing or dangerous ride or a horse’s drug abuse. No, these complaints were about the horse’s name. Because, as reported by ESPN in its Austrian Painter story, “Hitler was born in Austria and was an artist.”
Fun facts: (AKA explain the joke, making it less funny to some, but more funny to me)
Special K is also slang for ketamine, a drug popular with some high profile oligarchs and other elites.
So the “K” in K-shaped economy (wealth divergence) and the “K” in Special K (ketamine) land on the same social group *the ultra-wealthy on the top arm of the K * making the letter a convenient pun for commentary on inequality and privilege.
Huh!